Well, I hope everyone had a good holiday and didn't get hurt during Black Friday. Some people might be disappointed a big fight isn't going to happen, but I want to get every group roughly to the same point chronologically. There is a lot of stuff going on besides some major fights. I actually had to start making a time line for this chapter and the next.
G96 Sabre: Thanks a lot for those kind words. You bring up an interesting point, as even in the LN he doesn't really change. I feel he has changed a little as he began to realize other people's feelings.
DivineDemonDragon: They have, back in the early chapters. I said I was going to make some changes to the time line, but I suppose I could include a flashback of how Accelerator met Worst at some point. I'll keep that in mind.
Guest with List: Motoharu calls him Kami-yan, Pierce calls him Kamijou I believe. Though I did realize I missed it at the end of the chapter and corrected it. Esper is the English way, but ability user is the more correct term. Anime she did, but books gave her black hair.
So everyone wants Acqua vs Accelerator, I figured as much. Now, that fight is still being planned completely and I actually got a lot of ideas and advice from other people. Some people believe Accelerator would win and others Acqua. It's definitely going to be one of the biggest fights I have planned. But the ending might surprise all of you. No one can guess who will win.
Disclaimer: I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index or any of the characters. Reading this story may cause you to burst out in laughter or yelling at fictional characters. This may cause nearby people to assume you have gone crazy. Please read responsibly.
"Where the hell are the others?" Shizuri muttered to herself. She, Frenda, Saiai, and Rikou had finished shopping and everyone else had still not arrived. In their defense, they had taken quite a while, as evidence from the many bags next to them on a bench. But after several hours of making their way through every store that interested them in the slightest, they eventually had seen everything at the mall. "I needed Kamijou to take our stuff to the bus. I swear when he gets back…"
"Well you super had to buy half the mall," pointed out Saiai.
"…You should think of others Mugino…," Rikou added as she looking up at her from her seat.
"Are you saying this is my fault?" Shizuri asked coldly, narrowing her eyes.
"Of course not," Frenda said quickly shaking her head. "Basically, we all bought a lot of stuff, but you bought a lot more." She coward under Shizuri's glare, but then, to her relief, Shizuri sighed and leaned back on the chair she was sitting in and stared up at the ceiling. Frenda turned back to Saiai and started talking.
Why did I buy so much stuff? Shizuri wondered to herself. Buying clothes she didn't need really wasn't a big deal to her. After all, she made a lot of money working for the dark side of Academy City, so she could buy pretty much anything she wanted. When she got bored of an outfit she would just throw it out and get new ones. There were different designs in England then at Academy City but, even so, she bought more than she normally would have. It reminded her of a couple times she tended to go overboard when she was stressed, like if Frenda messed up during an important mission with her carelessness. She frowned and remembered what she thought when she bought the clothes. It definitely wasn't stress this time. She had been looking at a mirror, when she tried on some outfits that revealed a little more skin then she normally wore, and Touma's face came to the front of her mind. F&^% this, I'm not some love stuck brat like the third and fifth. She shook her head and turned her attention back to the others.
"Still seems weird for them to be gone so long," Frenda said. "Basically, you think they forgot about us?"
"If they did," Saiai said cracking her knuckles. "They will super regret it. Besides, all you care about is Kamijou being with the other girls."
"T-that's n-not t-true," stuttered Frenda. "Basically, I want to go sightseeing and we can't if we are stuck here, unless we want to grab a cab everywhere. Besides, you should be more worried about yourself. Accelerator hasn't even noticed you. He pays more attention to the two girls that came with him."
"I have more appeal them both of them put together," Saiai snapped. "You are super just trying to direct your insecurities onto me."
"Hah," Frenda said shrugging her shoulders and giving Saiai a shifty look. "He wasn't able to keep his eyes off my legs at the beach."
"You were just seeing things," Saiai retorted.
"…I'll root for both of you," Rikou interrupted. That caused both of them to stop talking, as the realized how loud they were getting, and turned to her.
"You two are just too passive," Shizuri said slightly bored, but couldn't resist teasing them a bit. The crowd around them was thinning out so they could talk louder without being over heard by to many people. "Frenda finally took a few steps, but you haven't made a real move. I'm surprised Accelerator even has an interest in girls, the way he acts. His friends keep making fun of him about it."
"Then do you have a suggestion?" Saiai asked.
"You could try…" Shizuri was going to suggest with an evil grin, but then she stopped. "There's our guide and the fifth. They finally arrived." Everyone else turned to see Itsuwa and Misaki looking around and, when they spotted Shizuri, they made a beeline directly toward her. "About f&*^%&# time you get here. Where is everyone else?"
"There has been a slight change in plans," Misaki said panting slightly. "We have to head back to the hotel." This got her some confused looks, and Shizuri narrowed her eyes at her.
"You better have an explanation for the shit that's coming out of your mouth," she said her voice ice cold. "Before I get angry."
"Would you be willing to let me explain everything through my ability?" Misaki asked. "It would be faster." She knew the attempt would be futile, but if she tried to do it by force, she would probably be killed.
"If you try to use your ability on me, or any one of us," Shizuri hissed. "I will make sure there is nothing left of you except a smudge on the ground."
"You are just as uncivilized as usual," Misaki retorted and they both glared at each other. Frenda, and Saiai raised their eyes in surprise, knowing the outcome if their argument continued. Sensing the same thing, Itsuwa immediately stepped in between them to prevent a fight breaking out as she knew time was of the essence.
"Please don't fight," Itsuwa interjected. "We don't have a lot of time." She turned to Shizuri and the others. "There has been an issue with the government. One of the princesses has started a coup to overthrow the Queen. Her forces have been systematically taking over the country. We want to get everyone out of the city before the main fighting begins." She knew Shizuri was the type of person to need the truth or she wouldn't act.
Wrong way to approach this, Misaki thought to herself. Mugino is obsessed with fighting. She will probably want to join in, just for fun.
"Seriously!?" Frenda exclaimed.
"That sounds super exciting," Saiai added.
"…Mugino?" Rikou asked turning to face Shizuri. She hadn't done anything except raised her eyebrow in surprise. When Misaki had told her they were going to head back to the hotel, her first thought was one of the brats forgot something important. She was prepared to teach them life did not revolve around them. She did not expect Itsuwa to say there was a coup going on. She had several mixed emotions, but wasn't able to suppress the grin forming on her face.
"So a princess is starting a coup…," Shizuri mumbled. "I did not expect some royal brat to actually pull something off like that. I assumed they would just be some spoiled kids and act as a figure head. Consider me impress." She turned to the others. "I guess it would put a damper on our trip." Frenda, Saiai, and Rikou nodded, and then Shizuri turned back to Itsuwa. "So your plan was to get us out of the major city? Is everyone else out already?" So that's why everyone hasn't returned.
"Yes," Itsuwa confirmed. "But everyone else is not out of the city yet." She sped up when Shizuri glared at her, but Itsuwa did not appear nervous. After all, she had entered mission mode and she would always try to act professionally. "Most of them have boarded the bus back. My job was to evacuate everyone left at the mall. We are still missing two others, have you seen them?"
You mean the teacher who looks like a brat and the pain in the a$$?" Shizuri asked. "They are around, I would just follow the people yelling. She tends to try to prank people."
"What about Kamijou?" Frenda asked Itsuwa.
"Due to some… unusual… circumstances," Itsuwa replied slowly, now looking slightly nervous as she relayed that new. "He got separated from the others and is being evacuated through different means."
Shizuri thought about this for a moment, and it did not escape her notice that Misaki's face had darkened at Itsuwa's words. "I see," she said. "I feel you holding some information back, but I suppose that's fine. I'll make you tell me everything later." Itsuwa felt sweat form on her brow and began to dread when later would finally arrive. "So let's hear your plan."
"We have a car," Itsuwa said. "But it will only hold five. Another car is going to meet with us momentarily to take everyone else."
"Can't we stay and super watch the fighting?" Saiai asked hopefully.
"Maybe later," Shizuri said grinning. "Frenda's going to freak out if we don't find him first."
"MUGINO!" Frenda cried while her face turned red.
"Ok," Misaki said. "Then all we need to do is find Worst and Komoe-s..." Her words were interrupted by a loud boom and then several people started screaming. They all turned to look in the direction of the noise. Some smoke was rising from one of the entrances and several people in police uniforms were spreading out through the mall and rounding up all the civilians. Behind them, countless people in full knight armor were marching in.
"We are too late," Itsuwa said, putting her spear together. "Those forces are Princess Carissa's. I bet the mall is surrounded. I heard rumors they were rounding up civilians. Looks like we need to fight our way out. I'm glad we didn't park the car right next to the mall."
"This looks like fun," Shizuri said while standing up and stretching. "Everyone, get into your positions and be ready for a fight." She looked over at Itsuwa. "Which exit is closest to your vehicle?"
"That one," Itsuwa said pointing. "Far side from where we are. We better hurry. I don't think we have time to find the others, unless they are on the way." They started running toward the exit, leaving their bags behind. Normally, running through the mall would have made them look suspicious, but because of the explosion, everyone was running around in panic. Police officers were rounding up people, while the knights prevented anyone from leaving. As the exit came into view, they heard someone familiar.
"Misaka swears she was only borrowing it." Misaki turned and saw Worst trapped in a corner, holding a small snake, with two policemen surrounding her.
"You are under arrest," one of them said. "You will come…" To Worst's surprise, they both collapsed on the ground. She looked up and saw Misaki walking toward her, a remote in hand, with their guide, Shizuri, Frenda, Saiai, and Rikou standing behind her.
"Not bad," Worst said impressed petting her snake. "If you work with Misaka, there's no limit to the mischief we can achieve."
"Now's not the time," Misaki said quickly. 'We got to get out of here."
"Misaka doesn't think she did anything that bad," Worst said. "But you are probably right. There are other places needing Misaka's special touch."
"There's a lot more than that," Misaki said impatiently. "The world doesn't center around your antics. Where is Komoe-sensei? She was with you, right?"
"She was rounded up by some police," Worst replied. "Misaka was too fast and got away from them."
"That's not good," Itsuwa said walking up and frowning. "She shouldn't be hurt though, because she is just a normal person. If she doesn't cause any problems, she will just be locked up with everyone else."
"We will have to save her later then," Misaki said. "First, we need to get out of here and rendezvous with the others."
"If you two are done chatting," Shizuri called to them. "Things are about to get ugly."
"Basically," Frenda added. "There are quite a few guards at the exit."
"I hope they are strong," Saiai said. "Otherwise, they are all super dead." Misaki, Itsuwa, and Worst ran back to them and saw a row of police officers, with a row of knights behind them. One of the officers was yelling into a megaphone.
"Everyone remain calm," he said. "You will all be escorted to a holding facility. No one will be harmed as long as everyone complies." He put down the megaphone and looked directly toward the girls. "This means all of you too. You, girl," he pointed toward Itsuwa, "Drop your weapon."
"Looks like it's the fun way," Shizuri said grinning.
"Let me try first," Misaki said whipping out a remote. "My power's a lot more civilized then yours." Shizuri glared at her, but Misaki ignored her. She pressed the button and concentrated her ability towards the group blocking their path. The police officers immediately went limp and started moving off to the side, out of their way. Misaki frowned to herself though. The knight's minds are shielded. I can't be sure if it is the helmets or their magical protection, either way, I have to leave it up to them. We don't have time to bypass their defenses one at a time. "The armored knights have shielded minds. It would take time to try to break through. Try not to kill them."
"No promises," Shizuri said cracking her knuckles and taking a step forward.
The knights realized the police were being controlled or manipulated. "One of them can control minds, keep your minds sharp and advance. Take them alive if possible, if not, kill them all. We are backed by the leader of angels." The other knights raised their weapons and started to flank their group. Shizuri grinned.
"You seem tough," she said holding out her right hand, four green orbs formed and started spinning in her hand.
"I don't sense any magic coming from her," one of the knights called out as he slowed down and began approaching her cautiously.
"Magic?" Shizuri said slightly confused, but then laughed. "You are all adults and still believe in that shit. Let me show you what science is then." A large, bright, green beam shot out of each orb, too fast for anyone to react, and each one hit a knight directly in the chest. An explosion followed each hit and they were blocked from sight. A moment later, the four guards were lying down on the ground, their armor completely destroyed. "Wow," Shizuri commented impressed. "They are all still alive. What the hell is that armor made of?"
"It's super weird all of the armored shattered and not just the front half," added Saiai. "I wonder if that's how they survived."
"If you call that surviving," Frenda said shrugging. "Basically, their entire body is covered in burns and they probably won't live without immediate medical attention."
How can they talk about injuring people like that so easily? Misaki thought to herself, disgusted at their actions, as she started concentrating on one of the remaining knights. She figured it would be important to learn how to bypass their defenses since she didn't know how many of them they were going to have to fight. To her, the shielding of their mind was different then she normally encounters with other mental ability users. It more closely resembles Lust's magic, but even now, it's still different. I guess magic has a lot of variety like our abilities. One of the knights charged at them and raised his sword.
"Oh no you don't," Saiai said, and she slid on the ground below the knight. She kicked him in the leg and he came crashing down onto the ground. She jumped up to her feet and grabbed him by the ankle. Saiai lifted him up, almost effortlessly, and threw him into a wall. She grinned as she heard the resounding crash. "It's super too early to challenge us."
"I haven't let lose for a while," Frenda said happily and reached under her skit. She pulled out several handheld missiles, which she lit and they flew off toward two more of the knights. A barrage of explosions and dust concealed them from view. When the dust cleared, both of the knights were still standing, but their armor was a lot scruffier looking. "Man their armor is tough. Basically it has to be if they don't die immediately from your ability Mugino."
"I'm kind of interested in what they made it out of," Shizuri said slightly impressed. "Maybe when this dies down, we should steal a suit." Her eyes turned to the last knight as he jumped forward to attack them. Before she could use her ability, Itsuwa jumped past her swinging her spear. A small explosion from the end of her weapon caused the knight to get flung backwards. Itsuwa landed daintily on her feet and kept the end of her spear facing them. "So you can fight too. It's almost like you were deliberately assigned to be our guide. We have a lot to talk about when we get out of here." Itsuwa felt the sweat appear on her forehead again. Shizuri turned and fire two more of her green beams at the knights hit by Frenda's explosions. Their armor was destroyed while the men fell to the ground covered in serious burns and smoking slightly. Itsuwa was about to attack the last one again, but the knight suddenly slumped to the ground and seemed to fall asleep.
"Finally," Misaki said cheerfully. "Their defenses are weird, but I think I know how to bypass them now."
"Their armor is really nice," Frenda said. "Basically if they can handle Mugino's Meltdowner, the helmet is probably weakening your ability too."
"Misaka didn't even get a chance to do anything," Worst said slightly disappointed she didn't get to hurt anyone.
"There's more to it than that," Itsuwa interrupted them. "Their armor is designed to transfer damage they would receive to the actual armor. I know a similar spell, but we should get moving."
"Don't think you will be leaving alive," a voice called out and they all turned to see the knight Saiai had thrown into the wall stand up. He had pulled out his sword and it appeared to be glowing slightly. "I don't know what sick power you all have, but it ends here." Instead of charging them, which was proven to be a futile attempt, the knight swung his sword at a nearby column. The sword went right through the concrete like butter. He had cut at an angle which caused the column to slide down and break from the ceiling under its own weight. It began to fall at them, with pieces raining down. A moment later, two bright green beams appeared next to Shizuri, one hit the knight and the other hit the top half of the column to prevent it from slamming down on them. Shizuri had reacted on instinct, most of them could have dodged it, but that was all twenty-twenty hindsight. While the knight was incapacitated, another problem occurred.
Her Meltdowner beam caused the column to explode and larger chunks of concreate started raining down on all of them.
It wasn't a bother for a couple of them. Saiai's Offensive Armor protected her, even if she got knocked around by a large piece of rubble, Shizuri just blasted any that came at her, and a large part of the wall behind it was destroyed as a result, while Frenda and Itsuwa had good enough reflexes to dodge them, and Worst was far enough back to avoid the rubble easily. That still left problems for Misaki and Rikou. Misaki had absolutely no athletic abilities, so dodging falling rocks would be impossible for her, except for dumb luck. Luckily, Itsuwa noticed this and was able to save her by knocking away the debris with her spear. Rikou on the other hand wasn't so lucky. She was ITEM's tracker and while she had decent athletic abilities, it wasn't enough. Saiai tried to cover her, but she was a lot smaller than Rikou, and a piece of concreate hit Rikou in the head, causing her to collapse. When the rubble cleared, everyone else was ok.
"Takitsubo!" Frenda called out rushing over to her.
"…Ouch," Rikou said weakly on the ground. "I'm ok Frenda…"
"Pick her up and let's go," Shizuri commanded them. Saiai and Frenda nodded and helped support Rikou onto her feet. Shizuri turned to Itsuwa. "Lead the way to your vehicle." Itsuwa nodded and led the way while everyone else followed. Misaki was in the back and she stopped for a moment and reached down and picked up a small case.
It must have fallen out of her pocket when she got hit, Misaki thought. Curiosity filled her and she opened it. Inside of the container appeared to be a fine powder. What is this? Is she a drug user? She couldn't resist the urge to see what it is and put her hand into her bag, around one of her remotes. She was careful to only hit Rikou with it. I've never heard of body crystal before. It seems to boost abilities, but why isn't it readily distributed. She didn't have time to continue to peruse Rikou's mind, as she had to almost run to keep up with the others. Eventually, they managed to reach the car before any other unwanted forces found them. They ran into another problem though.
The car was designed for, at most, five people. They could probably squeeze a sixth in, but that means one of them would have to stay behind. It was doubtful they all could fit inside such a small car. Shizuri also appeared to realize the problem. "You think we can all fit in that tiny piece of crap?"
"The other car has not arrived yet," Itsuwa apologized. "I don't know when they will be here, or even if."
"She needs to get out of here anyways," Frenda said referring to Rikou. "Basically, she's in no condition to stay here."
"We don't have a reason to stay either," Shizuri said making an annoyed sound with her mouth. "The alarm has probably gone out by now and they will be looking for us."
"Then I have an idea," Misaki interjected. "My ability will let me remain hidden. You all can go without me."
"But…" Itsuwa started to say but Shizuri cut her off.
"You make a good point," Shizuri grudgingly admitted. "None of our abilities are quite useful for remaining undercover. Plus, I don't care if you get yourself killed playing the hero. Have fun, I have a lot of questions for her." She pointed to Itsuwa and then turned toward the car. Everyone, except Itsuwa, got into the car. Even Worst, though that was because she didn't really care about others. Itsuwa turned to Misaki before she got into the driver's seat.
"I will make sure help arrives," she said and Misaki say fire in her eyes. "Stay safe."
"I will," Misaki nodded while smiling. "I think I'm more worried about you." Itsuwa sighed and her face paled slightly, before she got into the car. Misaki watched them go, knowing Itsuwa would keep her promise. However, her actions were not entirely noble. She had already gone over several plans in her head and chose this one. While it was true she had the best ability to remain undetected, but there was a lot more. She wouldn't be able to locate Touma as easily from the hotel. She was determined not to leave the city until she was sure he was ok. I lost him once because I was weak, not again. She moved deeper into the city to start reconnaissance. If she found anyone else beforehand, she would help if possible, but she wasn't planning to go out of her way to find them.
"How's Lessar?" Touma asked leaning against a wall as Mikoto walked out of a room. Agnese had taken them to a small safe house where another nun, from her forces, was hiding. According to Agnese, she specialized in healing spells, but Touma had to stay out of the room until it was finished because of his hand. The house was small and unassuming, a little out of central London, so they figured they wouldn't be found easily. There was a hidden passageway below the house to escape into the catacombs below, if absolutely needed.
"She's conscious but still weak from blood loss," Mikoto replied, but she looked relieved. "The healing is finished and all she really needs is to rest. Are you still worried about Index?"
"Yea," Touma sighed, depressed. Index had gone with Carissa and now Index was her hostage. Agnese had informed them she was captured, but kept reassuring him she would be fine. Carissa would want to keep her alive because of her knowledge. "I should have gone with her." He knew he couldn't rally have done anything, but he at least wanted the chance to try to save his friend.
"Don't talk like that," Mikoto said patting him on the back. "Berating yourself isn't going to help. Once we find everyone, we can organize a rescue." Touma looked at her and saw her staring at him with compassion and determination.
"Thanks a lot Mikoto," Touma said feeling a lot better. He smiled at her and she felt her face grow warm.
"You can come in boy," Agnese called from the room. Touma and Mikoto turned around and entered. Lessar had been moved to the bed in the corner of the room and she was now sitting up against a pillow and looking at them all suspiciously. Her face was quite pale, but otherwise looked ok. Agnese was sitting in a chair watching Lessar, but turned to look at Touma when he entered. The other young girl, who had performed the actual healing, was putting the blood stained clothes and rags into a basket and left the room.
"I know she wasn't our ally," Touma said to Agnese. "But thanks for taking care of her wounds."
"We are part of the church you know," Agnese huffed, but a slightly pink tinge appeared on her cheeks at his thanks. "Helping others is what we do."
"Healing magic is really useful," Mikoto added impressed. "I wish we knew someone with an ability that convenient." Touma nodded in agreement. As part of the science side, they had to reply on medicine and surgeries for major wounds.
"So what are you going to do with me?" Lessar asked. "I doubt you just healed me out of the kindness of your heart."
"Hey!" Mikoto said indignantly. "We saved you because we wanted to."
"Though if you want to give up information," Agnese added. "That would be alright too. We know you were a courier for Curtana Original, but that isn't technically against any laws. The only thing we could possibly get you on is transporting a powerful magical relic without proper clearance into a major city. Even then, you didn't use, or have any intention to use, it. As long as you didn't know Princess Carissa was going to stage a coup, any punishment you receive will be minor."
"We knew," Lessar said instantly, and there was a note of pride in her voice. "She is planning to bring the UK back to the height of its power. As of now, the UK is constantly declining and outside forces are taking root, the European Union, the Roman Catholic Church, and now same random magic group is attacking our country. I love my country and I will do anything to protect it, even having to help throw a coup to save its future." She said the last part so forcefully, Touma didn't doubt for a moment about her truthfulness.
"Ah," Agnese moaned. "Why did you have to say that…? Ah, I must have water in my ears or something and I'm hearing things. I'll be right back to get your answer. I need to check with the others anyways." She left the room shaking her head at Lessar's reply.
"So Sparky," Lessar said cheerfully turning to Mikoto, quite pleased with herself. "What brings you to the UK?"
"Don't call me Sparky!" snapped Mikoto. "My name's Mikoto Misaka, get it right. I remembered yours." Touma noticed she used the same tone against Lessar as she used against him when he used to call her Biribiri.
She really hates nicknames, doesn't she?
"So what brings you to the UK?" Lessar asked again. "Whatever the reason, you sure picked a bad time."
"Touma here," Mikoto said pointing at him. "Won a weeklong trip in a… contest… for him and his friends to anywhere in the world. We are here on vacation with our friends. Well, it was a vacation until this happened." Touma felt like burying his face into his hands, when he remembered how he won the contest and the interview that followed.
"Heh sorry about that," Lessar said grinning sheepishly. "I didn't mean to interrupt you and your boyfriend's date."
"B-b-boyfriend!" stuttered Mikoto as she turned bright red, and even Touma felt his ears burn. "We are friends… but we went out once…. But we never officially became…." Her voice got softer and softer and died out.
"Oh," Lessar said raising an eyebrow and her face brightened. She turned her eyes onto Touma and looked him up and down. "So your name is Touma…?"
"Kamijou," Touma informed her.
"Thanks for saving me," Lessar said sincerely. "Not only after I was shot, but catching me when I fell from the building." She closed her eyes and put her hands up to her cheeks and Touma thought her face turned slightly red. "I still remember the warm embrace of your lips." Mikoto's face turned scarlet as she remembered that incident too. Touma opened his mouth to try to diffuse the situation, but Lessar continued and did not allow him to. "Then after we fought in the warehouse, I still remember the way you fought. You effortlessly knocked me down and told me to surrender, so powerful. It's almost like we are engaged now."
"WHAT!" Touma and Mikoto shouted.
"What did you do?" Mikoto fumed at Touma.
"Nothing," Touma replied quickly raising his hands innocently. "How on earth did you come to that conclusion?" he cried at Lessar.
"You know Touma," Lessar said and Touma was painfully aware she used his first name. "When they changed me out my old bloody clothes, they didn't give me any underwear. Want to see?" She moved her hands, pushed the covers off her lower legs, and grabbed the end of her skirt.
"No," Touma denied immediately out of reflex, but a small part of him, the true male part, wanted to see if she was telling the truth. "Why would you tell me that?"
"Just so you can truly see I'm the best girl," Lessar said sweetly. "You won't think of anyone else with me around." Before Touma could respond to this sudden announcement, he heard crackling coming from beside him. He turned to see Mikoto surrounded by blue-white sparks and her face was dark. "Easy Mikoto," he said quickly. "She's just messing around with us."
"I know we can't legally get married yet," Lessar said adding fuel to the fire. "But we can do it a lot earlier if we have a kid togeth…"
"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?!" Touma yelled taking a step back. "You're too young to be thinking about that!" Suddenly, Mikoto shot a bolt of electricity, not at Lessar but at Touma. He survived because his right hand reacted immediately and negated the blast. "What was that for?!"
"Your face turned red!" she yelled at him. "You were thinking about it!"
"Of course I thought about it!" Touma replied. "She just said it! I'm the one trying to get her to stop."
"It doesn't mean you have to imagine it!" Mikoto shot back. "After all we are…" She stopped in mid-sentence. What exactly are we? We are more than friends, but we aren't dating… Everything might have been fine, if Lessar didn't open her mouth again. Touma was unsure if she was serious, or just enjoyed messing with them.
"I don't mind if you want a harem ending," Lessar sad grinning up to him, her hands never leaving her skirt. "But I get to be first. Then you can stay with me in the UK. We could protect this country together."
"Stop acting like my stupid friends!" demanded Touma reflexively. Motoharu, Pierce, and Jason would say things like that constantly to him, even Accelerator joined in occasionally. Another bolt of electricity flew at him, and then he had to stop Mikoto from hitting an injured Lessar.
Kuroko was kneeling at the edge of a building looking down on the street below. She had been observing the interactions between the police force, civilians, and people in full knight armor. Due to her eavesdropping, she found out the knights were their own faction under the Queen's control. Stiyl was right, the princess controls them now. How am I going to find out where onee-sama is? They already rounded up most of the civilians on the streets. She watched a lot of people being forced into police vehicles and shuttled to hotels, movie theaters, and other large buildings to consolidate them in as few places as possible. A couple times she was seen and the knights had started to chase her, but she easily lost them around corners by teleporting to rooftops and hiding. She teleported to the next building and saw some knights talking loudly. They sounded bored, but they would immediately stand at attention when someone else passed by. She quietly sat down on the roof and leaned forward listening.
"She sure is efficient," the first one said.
"The revolution is proceeding on schedule," the second one said. "I wish we got a more exciting job though. Watching the streets for civilians is boring."
"I heard a couple other units had some problems," the first replied. "One group was decimated when they were storming the mall. Most where hospitalized with severe burns, their armor completely destroyed. What was strange is we were told there weren't any signs of magic from them."
"What kind of monster could destroy our armor so easily and defeat knights powered with Telesma?" the second one said while making a noise of disbelief.
"I don't know, but I'm glad we don't have a job like that. I suppose we are close enough to the eastern troops to be pulled in to chase that Fallen leader."
The mall might be onee-sama," Kuroko thought. But those Fallen guys are here too? As if there aren't enough problems already. She rubbed her head and continued to listen, hoping she would gather some idea where anyone was.
"Why are we here if one of their leaders is on the loose? Are we sure it's one of them?"
"It could be a distraction. Right now, we have our orders and we will follow them. From what I heard, the leader uses some weird dark magic. He creates weapons and can weaken people with just a touch. It's just like the darkness the magician Eve had with when she attacked the palace. Though, it only came from a young male, it was like dark water."
"The princess is heading back to the palace right?"
"Unless she decides to do something else." They both sighed as if knowing something about the princess and continued to watch the street. Kuroko on the other hand stood up and started heading east.
I bet the person they think is a Fallen leader is Kagere, Kuroko thought to herself as she quickly moved from building to building, occasionally taking a detour around lookouts stationed on roofs. His ability would appear evil to people who don't know it, but what was that about being similar to Eve? I'll worry about that later. Right now, he being in the east is the only lead I have. He might have an idea were the others are.
Agnese walked back into the room, sighing slightly to herself. She had left to contact the other members of her forces to check on their status, along with everyone else from Touma's group. The good news was most people were accounted for, the bad news, the situation was getting bad. She stopped after taking two steps into the room. She watched Touma holding back a struggling Mikoto, who was red face with anger, from Lessar, who was laughing. "It's good to see everyone so energetic," she said looking at them. They all stopped and turned toward her and Touma let Mikoto go. "I have news for all of you."
"Are our friends alright?" Mikoto asked immediately.
"I have confirmation on most of them," Agnese said taking a deep breath. "Everyone is on their way to the hotel except the following. It seems Accelerator-san ran off on his own and Itsuwa lost track of him. Shokuhou-san decided to remain in the city to allow the others from the mall to escape in the car. We have not heard anything about her being captured, so she should still be on the loose. We were too late for Komoe-san, and she was taken to a holding facility for civilians, so she should be fine for a while. Stiyl was yelling about Shirai-san running off on her own looking for you guys."
"Arg Kuroko!" Mikoto cried grabbing her head in frustration. "You should have stayed with everyone."
"I hope they are ok," Touma muttered. "I know Accelerator would probably jump into something he found entertaining, but I'm worried about Misaki. If her power gets blocked, she probably won't be able to get away." Mikoto nodded in agreement. "But Komoe-sensei is detained? We have to rescue her."
"If she's safe in a holding facility," Mikoto said rationally. "Then trying to rescue her now might not be the best option. Finding everyone and regrouping would be better. She doesn't have an ability, so they should just consider her an ordinary person."
"I guess you're right," Touma reluctantly agreed with her logic.
"I do have some other news," Agnese said and they were surprised to see a slight grin on her face. "It seems the knights believe Kagere-san is a member of The Fallen and they are chasing him across London. I hear he is giving them a lot of problems though. Even if it seems he is just trying to escape the city limits."
"Sounds like him," Touma said face palming while Mikoto gave an unwilling giggle. "But I wonder why they think he is part of The Fallen." Lessar didn't know who they were talking about and just looked confused. A moment later Agnese's phone rang, she answered it, and her face paled. She whispered something and hung up. "What's wrong?" Touma asked hastily.
"Things just got worst," Agnese said. "We received reports Acqua of the Back, a member of God's Right Seat, landed in England and attacked a group of knights and my forces. Kanzaki managed to intercept him, so it should be ok. But it's not like we need another faction fighting here. He's supposed to be ridiculously powerful."
"Acqua is here?" Touma asked gritting his teeth.
"You know him?" Agnese asked surprised.
"Vento attacked Academy City awhile back," Touma told her. "Acqua came in and evacuated her after I stopped her. He said we would meet again. He definitely wasn't normal." Mikoto had never seen Vento and had unknowingly helped Touma and Index without actually seeing the magic side. She had fought a group of people with guns instead, so she didn't know anything about God's Right Seat. Lessar was listening intently, but remained quiet.
"So I guess that means he is after you," Agnese sighed. "Could this day get any worse?" Touma felt a shiver down his spine at those famous last words.
"Sister Agnese!" the other nun girl cried bursting into the room. "The house is surrounded by knights!"
"What?" Agnese cried in shock. "How did they find us?"
"I don't know," she continued. "But it seems like even the Knight Leader and Princess Carissa are here."
"Oh no," Agnese said clutching her Lotus Wand tightly. "One knight we could probably take on, but Knight Leader AND the princess? Dang, I can feel the Telesma radiating around us." She turned to the others. "I think we might have to just surrender."
"There's no way we can do that," Mikoto said indignantly. "Can we escape through the tunnel?" The other nun shook her head.
"The wards were destroyed," she answered sadly. "It collapsed about twenty feet out and would just be a dead end."
"Well," Lessar piped up for the first time in a while. She slowly got out of bed and struggled to her feet. "Doesn't look like we are going to get out of this. It was nice meeting all of you." She took a couple uneasy steps and stumbled. Touma and Mikoto moved forward and caught her.
"You shouldn't be on your feet yet," Touma told her.
"It doesn't really matter," Lessar sighed. "But if I'm going to die, I want to die on my own two feet."
"We are all going to make it out of this alive," Mikoto replied confidently, even if she didn't feel like it. I don't know how strong Knight Leader is, but he gives of a bad vibe. I don't really want to fight him. Plus, the princess is powered by Telesma. Will she be as powerful as The Herald was?
"I guess we make our last stand here…" Agnese said and then was interrupted. The front door was blown off its hinges, followed by a good chunk of the rest of the wall. Touma coughed from the dust, but he, Mikoto, and Agnese instinctively moved in front of Lessar while the other nun moved to support her. Light poured into the darken house, but was cut off as several knights in full armor marched in. They were followed by the Knight Leader and Carissa, both of whom were giving off an intimidating aura.
"Such a quaint hideout," Carissa said smirking. "It was easy enough to track you though. We can track anyone with mana in London now, and we knew you had her." She looked over at Lessar. "Thanks again for bringing me Curtana Original."
"We did what we had to for our country," Lessar said weakly. She could feel the pressure just being in her presence.
"As you should," Carissa commented holding Curtana next to her. "Now, I came here for a specific purpose." She raised her hand, the one not holding the sword, and pointed it at Touma. "You are going to come with me Imagine Breaker boy."
"Why?" Touma asked instinctively.
"Your power will be useful," Carissa said simply. "Plus I want to make sure the Church does not have a useable weapon against me. It's killing two birds with one stone. Also, I want to have a nice long chat with you. You see, what kind of idiot would save their enemy like you did?"
"Someone who sees other as humans," Touma replied through gritted teeth.
"I'm not going to let you take him," Mikoto said as several sparks appeared next to her.
"You don't really have a choice," Carissa replied smirking at her. "You may be powerful where you come from, but here, you are just a kid."
"We should hurry," Knight Leader said. "We have several appointments to keep." Carissa nodded.
"Let me put it this way," she said forcefully. "You can come with us willingly, or it will be a blood bath, your choice."
Touma glanced back at his friends. Agnese and Mikoto looked like they were prepared to fight, but Lessar and the other nun were not battle ready. If they fought, they would all likely be killed. I don't know if I can trust her, but do I really have a choice. He looked her directly in the eye. "If I go with you willingly," Touma said. "Will you my friends go and leave London without violence?"
"You can't," Agnese whispered.
"I won't let you," Mikoto hissed grabbing his shoulder. Touma moved his hand up and grabbed her wrist and moved it off of him. He looked at her and she saw pure determination in his eyes. I'm not going to be able to change his mind, she thought. She mentally cussed at herself and contemplated what would happen if she fired a Railgun at Carissa.
"It's good you understand the situation," Carissa said snapping her fingers. One of the knights threw a pair of handcuffs in front of Touma. "Just to be safe, put those on. I want to make sure you don't try anything funny." Touma reached down and grabbed the cuffs off the ground and put them on. They closed with a sinister snap. "You two," she said indicating Agnese and Mikoto. "Step away from him." They glared at her, with looks that said they wished her nothing but ill.
"Please do it," Touma whispered so Carissa couldn't hear him. "I'll be fine. Go find the others." They looked at him and hesitantly took a couple steps back. Two knights flanked him, each putting a hand on his shoulder, and led him out of the building. Carissa watched him leave, and then turned to the others.
"You have one hour to get out of London," she said. "If you return, you will be arrested, and possibly executed. I'm in a good mood today, so if you wish to reside in England, you may, just not in any major city." She turned and left with Knight Leader and the rest of the knights followed her. When they all left, Mikoto slammed her fist in anger at the wall.
"That b*#^&," she growled. "How dare she take him? He only went with her to protect us. Damn it. I even told him I don't need his protection."
"It's just the kind of guy he is," Agnese added scowling. "He always sacrifices himself for others." They both sighed and shook their heads but, inside, they both liked that part of him. Lessar kept turning her head to look at both of them.
"I know I haven't known him long," Lessar joined in. "But I have to agree with you two. But that self-sacrifice is kind of hot."
"You stay away from him!" Mikoto and Agnese turned and shouted at her. She jumped back slightly in surprise and grinned at them, obviously knowing what their reaction meant. Agnese turned to all of them, regained her composure, and said in a more normal tone, "We need to leave. Knowing Princess Carissa, she is serious about the hour time limit. If we are still in London, she will no doubt attack us." Mikoto did not want to go, but she didn't want Touma's sacrifice to be in vain.
"We don't really have a choice," Mikoto said, hating every word. They all left the remains of the hideout and loaded up into the car. They started driving and about ten minutes in, Agnese suddenly made a sharp turn down a side road. At the same time Mikoto felt something hit her and she let out a small spark from her head. "Where are we going?"
"I just got word from one of your friends," Agnese said and pulled over next to a building. Out of the doorway, Mikoto saw a familiar blonde head of hair and she knew why she suddenly sparked up. Misaki opened the car door, and then squeezed in the back with Lessar and the nun. Mikoto noticed she looked exhausted, as sweat drenched her clothes.
"Thanks a lot," Misaki said panting slightly. "Even with my ability, trying to keep hidden when every magical person is looking for you is tough. A couple knights said there was commotion over here, so I figured a broad range transmission was the best way to find someone. They don't appear to be able to sense my ability." She looked around the car briefly. "Misaka-san," she said slowly turning to face her. "Where is Touma? Last I heard he was with you…"
Mikoto took a deep breath. She didn't really want to talk about it, especially to Misaki who was sure to flip out. "He left with Princes Carissa in order to let us escape the city," she said quickly hoping to get out as much as possible before Misaki could interrupt. "I don't know any more than that." There was a pause as Misaki processed her words.
"WHY DIDN"T YOU STOP HIM!?" Misaki shouted suddenly, almost causing Agnese to have a heart attack and crash the car. "You said you could watch him and you let him get taken away by the leader of this coup?"
"You think I wanted him to?!" Mikoto yelled back at her. "He knew we couldn't take her and her guards on by ourselves, so he went with them so we could escape." Her voice trembled slightly and Misaki eyes softened a little. "He wouldn't take any arguing. Arg," she held her head with her hands, "Why can he only be decisive in these kinds of situations?"
"I guess I can't really blame you now," Misaki sighed. "I know what he's like."
"Besides," Agnese spoke up. "It's not like this is the end. We are grouping up near the hotel with our remaining forces. We plan to siege the palace anyways to stop the princess by force. That boy is tough too," she added in an admiring tone, "so I know he will be fine by the time we get there." She felt everyone staring at her and gave them a quick glance. "What?"
"If we are heading back to the hotel," Mikoto said. "We got time to kill. Why don't you tell us how you know Touma?"
"W-what's that have to do with anything about the present situation?" Agnese asked shocked.
"This car trip is more fun than I expected," Lessar said grinning in amusement. The nun next to her was slinking down in her seat, hoping not to draw any attention to herself.
"Tell us," Misaki said smiling sinisterly. "Or I will have to read your mind. We will find out one way or another, right Misaka-san?"
"Oh definitely," Mikoto added. Agnese felt sweat form on her brow and there was little she could do since she was driving.
I shouldn't have said anything.
Touma was escorted to a limo by the knights, the door was opened, and he was pushed inside. The limo was long, and then he noticed someone was already inside. His eyes widened in amazement at the girl sitting on the seat with her hands tied behind her back. "Index," he said shocked. "You're ok?"
"Touma?" Index said, equally surprised. "You got captured again didn't you? I told you not to get involved in this." Carissa and Knight Leader also entered the limo and sat on the far side, opposite of Touma and Index. Touma and Index were too busy arguing to pay attention to them.
"What do you mean again?" Touma asked. "I don't get captured. I came with them to save my friends."
"You always get involved in magic," Index scolded him. "And it always leads you to get hurt."
"I'm fine aren't I," Touma replied indignantly. "Besides, you are the one who gets captur…" He stopped when Index's teeth flashed dangerously and she started to emit a dark aura.
"Are you saying this is my fault?" Index asked slowly.
"Of course not…" Touma said quickly.
"You were off hanging with Short Hair while I was stuck here and starving," Index continued. "Then you try to blame me."
"It's not like that," Touma said raising his handcuffed hands hoping to defend himself from the inevitable punishment he was about to receive.
"TOUMA!" Index yelled as she opened her mouth of razor sharp teeth. She lunged at him and clamped down on his head hard.
"SUCH MISFORTUNE!" Touma yelled in pain as he tried to shake her off to no avail. His hands were bound together and it was a lot harder to try to drag her off him. A combination of anger and hunger kept Index clamped firmly to his head. There was no fury like a hungry Index. He turned to Knight Leader and Carissa. "Can't one of you give her some food before she eats my head," he cried through the pain.
"You both seem to take the situation you are in lightly," Knight Leader said, his eyes never leaving their struggle.
"Technically," Carissa said with an amused expression. "You both are prisoners of England now. I don't know why you seem so carefree while being held by your enemies."
"Huh?" Touma asked confused temporarily forgetting Index was clamped to his head. "I don't see you as my enemy." Now it was Carissa's turn to become puzzled. She shared a quick look at Knight Leader, who shrugged slightly, and then turned back to Touma.
"So you don't see me as an enemy?" Carissa asked raising an eyebrow. "Even after capturing you two, overthrowing my mother's rule, waging war against the church, and trying to kill the girl you saved?"
"I think there is more to it then what you said," Touma said slowly as Index finally let go of him. "While you did start the coup, you are trying to keep as many civilians as possible out of harm's way. Plus you kept your promise and let my friends go if I went with you. A truly evil person would have gone back on their deal. I may not approve what you are doing, and I plan to stop you if I get even the slightest opportunity to do so, but I feel you have a reason why you are doing this." He remembered what Lessar said about the UK weakening due to outside influences. If she truly cares about her country, there has to be more then she is letting on.
Carissa looked at him with bewilderment, as he stared at her defiantly directly in the eyes. She saw no trace of doubt or hesitation and knew, if she did give a single opening, Touma would take complete advantage of it. She threw back her head and started laughing uncontrollably. "I knew it," she said between laughs. "I have never seen anyone like you. When I first saw you, I thought you were an idiot with a brave streak. There's just something about you boy, actually Touma Kamijou. I think you have received the right to be called by your name." Touma stared back at her unmoving, not aware of everyone else's reaction. Index's eyes had gone wide in surprise at Carissa's words and even Knight Leader could not contain his shock.
She normally doesn't recognized commoners outside photo shoots, he thought. This boy is not normal. It is not wise to let him, with his right hand, near Curtana. In fact, I do not trust him near the princess either, but she is too stubborn to listen to my warnings. His phone buzzed and he picked it up. "Yes?" he asked, but his eyes never left Touma.
"Let me tell you my plan then," Carissa said and while the grin never left her face, the rest of her face grew dark. "Obtaining Curtana Original was phase one, phase two was to take control of the country. As of now, it is over ninety percent complete. Do you know what phase three would be?"
"No…," Touma said slowly, but a part of him felt like it wasn't going to be good.
"I plan to kill both my sisters and my mother," Carissa informed him, as she stared directly at him, and her grin disappeared.
"WHAT?!" Touma and Index both yelled out in surprise. Whatever they had been expecting, it certainly wasn't that.
"If you think about it," Carissa said leaning back in her chair looking superior now that Touma was shell shocked by her revelation. "It is the only logical outcome. As only a member of the royal family can use Curtana, in order to prevent any chance of rebellion, I need to make sure I am the only user capable of wielding it. The Anglican Church is most likely mobilizing against me now. If they can't use Curtana's power against me, they will not have a chance. My rule will be set in stone. It's such a good plan, won't you agree."
"No," Touma muttered, as he looked at the ground, gritted his teeth, and balled his hands into fists.
"Oh," Carissa said waving him on. "Do tell me why."
"I'll stop you," Touma said looking up at her. "Right now, you still have a chance to be redeemed. I'll stop you before you go past the point of no return. If you think you can kill someone just because they might pose a threat to you, I will shatter that illusion of yours!" He raised his voice and it was filled with determination.
"That's the Touma I know," said Index proudly.
Carissa smiled and held out her hand, palm up. "I welcome you to try," she said as she closed it. She glanced over at Knight Leader, who had just put away his phone and turned to her. "How goes the fronts?"
"All major cities are under our control," Knight Leader said calmly. "With miner skirmishes scattered around the country. There are two problems that need to be resolved however. It seems the Queen escaped with help from the Archbishop and they are currently hiding in the countryside."
"Damn it," Carissa muttered angrily. "I know Rimea and Villian still need to be tracked down, but I figured we could capture mother before she could regroup with the church. Curtana Second still has some of its power, though it is nothing to what I wield now. After all, it is just a copy. What's the second problem?"
"I have received reports a Fallen leader is on the east side of the city," Knight Leader informed her. "Several of my knights have been defeated already. It appears he is using some darkness, similar to Eve's accomplice. Though, his darkness seems to weaken the Telesma in my men with every strike." Touma began to have a sinking feeling as he remembered Agnese's words from earlier.
"That does propose a problem," Carissa said. "Magic that can remove Telesma? This needs to be resolved quickly. Go, and take him down." Knight Leader nodded and the car stopped.
"I can be on the east side in minutes," Knight Leader said as he reached for the door. "I will take care of this swiftly and effectively."
"Wait," Touma said as realization hit. "It's not a Fallen leader. He's one of my friends who happens to have a shadow ability."
"Academy City people do not have the ability to use magic," Carissa told him as she narrowed his eyes at him. Touma could tell she believed he was lying.
"It's true," Index added. "Jason is a rather… unusual individual."
"Then let me tell you something," Knight Leader said. "When we told you Eve attacked the palace, she was not alone. A dark shadow creature was with her. While it appeared to move around on its own as a fluid, like dark water, it systematically appeared as a humanoid shape. We believed some individual was hiding within the shadow."
"It couldn't be him," Touma protested. "We didn't arrive till Saturday night."
"I remember hearing the Fallen were after your Imagine Breaker," Carissa said in a bored tone. "Do you really think they wouldn't have a spy within Academy City?"
"But he helped us against the Fallen…," Touma added.
"And they still got the wing," Knight Leader finished.
"I leave the decision up to you," Carissa told Knight Leader. 'While I would prefer to interrogate him, you have permission to eliminate him if capture is not possible."
"It will be done," Knight Leader replied calmly. It was not a tone of bragging or overconfidence. It was a tone of a man who was simply stating what he was going to do. "I heard he took a direct shot with Robin Hood and lived. I doubt he is normal." He left the limo and two other knights took his place. They sat between Touma and Carissa. Touma opened his mouth, but Carissa had an expression of someone who was no longer interested in discussion. Instead, she changed topics.
"You two will be taken to Buckingham Palace," she told them. "You will be detained there until I send for you." Touma glared at her, and she smirked at him. Touma glanced at Index and saw she also had a determined expression as she watched Carissa. "If he is indeed your friend and surrenders," Carissa continued. "He might live. If he resists…," she shrugged.
"He's not the kind of person to respect authority," Touma told her. "He's also pretty skilled in combat." Carissa laughed at his optimism. Jason, Touma thought to himself. You need to get out of the city fast. Knight Leader definitely is not normal.
Even if I know he's in the east, Kuroko thought to herself. The city is still large and trying to find someone randomly is almost impossible. All she knew was the knights were chasing someone, who she assumed to be Jason based on what she heard, out east. She was moving from roof to roof looking around for any sign of movement or struggle. It was easier now that the streets were clear, but she still had to be careful not to get spotted by an occasional knight lookout. She looked over the edge and smiled to herself. I should be close. She saw a couple knights leaning against a building, and the street around them showed signs of a struggle. There was a car flipped over, several large cracks running through the street, a bent light pole, and several different weapons stuck in walls. There were a couple men not in armor walking around and examining the area. It doesn't look like he was captured. Now which way did he go...?
She got her answer when she heard an explosion in the distance and saw a black trail of smoke rising into the air.
At least he is making it easy for me, Kuroko thought moving immediately heading in that direction. Teleportation made traveling to any location easy as she could just travel in a straight line over, or through, obstacles. She glanced over at the street and saw a couple knights running in the same direction she was. However, she didn't have to make any turns and easily out stripped them. She got to the scene and saw the smoldering remains of the car. A nearby electronic store had a broken window and shards of glass where all over the ground. Looks like he made a mess again, well, I hope it is him. I really don't want to be chasing a murderer or something. She teleported down to the ground and looked around quickly before anyone else arrived. No one appeared to be in the store, but she found out what caused the car to explode. A large spear was sticking out the side of it and into the engine. She heard the clank of footsteps and immediately teleported back up to the roof.
"Damn it!" a knight yelled kicking a piece of the car on the street. "What the hell is with that guy? We definitely have more power than him, so why does he keep slipping away."
"Those Fallen guys sure have a lot of power," another knight said. "We struck him with five different weapons and he still can retreat."
"It doesn't matter," a third said, picking up a piece of metal armor. "He uses mana and we can track him. If he tries to remain hidden, then he just gets surrounded. He will fall like the others." They first two knights nodded and began to move in the same direction.
How can they run in full armor like that? Kuroko thought to herself as she started teleporting in the same direction. But they have away to track him, so if I follow, they should lead me to him. She kept them in sight, but remained hidden among the roofs in order not to distract them. Eventually, they passed a small strip mall with several stores and one of the knights pointed to one. The other two nodded, pulled out their swords, and charged. They jumped through the windows, shattering them and Kuroko couldn't see what happened next. A moment later they were both thrown out when two large shadow fists punch them. Jason took a step out into the open and glared at the last knight standing. He was definitely not in the best of shape. His clothes were torn and his face covered in dirt, but didn't appear to have any wounds. The knight looked at him and held out his sword.
"You can't escape," the knight told him. "You are being surrounded. Your organization will be destroyed by the knights."
"For the last time," Jason sighed loudly. "I am not part of The Fallen."
"You can tell that to the judge," the knight said. "When I take you back in chains…" He suddenly stopped as the armor he was wearing disappeared. "What the…" A moment later he disappeared and reappeared upside down, ten feet in the air, and landed on his head.
"Huh?" Jason said then his eyes widened. "Kuro-chan? How?" Kuroko had teleported directly behind the knight, so Jason and the knight had not seen her. Kuroko's teleportation was limited by weight, and her limit was roughly an adult or two middle or high school students. She had to teleport the knight's armor before she could teleport the actual guy. She was extremely glad he had clothes under his armor.
"We got to go," Kuroko told Jason, as she teleported next to him. "I overheard them saying they can track mana so they will keep coming."
"That explains it," Jason said as they both began running down the street. Kuroko didn't teleport them yet because it made it easier to talk. "I was wondering how they kept finding me so easily."
"Come on," Kuroko said reaching out to grab him. "I'll get us out and then I have to find onee-sama."
"I can't leave yet," Jason said moving away from her. He pulled out a small device and started fiddling with it. "I still need to find an access point."
"Access point for what?" Kuroko asked.
"There are a lot of cameras in London," Jason said. "I believe most are connected. If I can find a major access point, we should be able to access the system wirelessly. But if what you said is true, I don't have much time. If I don't use my shadow, they should have a harder time pinpointing my location."
"I can teleport us there," Kuroko volunteered. "Do you know where the nearest one is?"
"Yep," Jason said proudly. "I saw a map a while back and memorized the route. I've been heading there, but trying to make my movements look random."
"Tell me where," Kuroko said. "Sooner we can get this set up, the sooner we can find everyone." She teleported them both as Jason gave her directions. As long as he doesn't use his shadow, I can teleport him. I will have to ask him why that is at some point. Wait, when did I start thinking about him normally? This guy is a liar and can't be trusted. Arg, right now, his plan is my best hope for finding onee-sama. Thanks to Kuroko's ability, they came to a small building, and Jason slipped into it. Kuroko kept a look out for anyone else, but Jason came back out in less than a minute.
"All done," Jason said. "Kazari should be able to access it with my password. I already sent a note ahead explaining everything. We should be able to find anyone left in the city, and spy on the princess's forces."
"So we ready to leave the city then?" Kuroko asked and Jason nodded. "I don't like trusting you, but your plan is better than trying to run around here blindly. I only found you because of the knights thinking you were part of The Fallen."
"Yea," Jason frowned and crossed his arms. "I don't know why. They weren't very talkative, except saying they were going to arrest me." Kuroko started teleporting them in a beeline toward the eastern edge of the city. Once they were outside the city limits, they would go around and head toward the hotel to meet up with everyone. They didn't see anyone else and they managed to arrive outside the city without any problems. Kuroko stopped and looked around.
"Think we are far enough?" she asked.
"Yea," Jason said as they started to walk to give Kuroko a small break. "Wish I had my phone, but I had to use a couple parts from it."
"I'll send them a message," Kuroko said pulling hers out. Her eyes widened because she had missed a text from Mikoto. "Onee-sama's ok," she said cheerfully. "She's heading to the hotel with others."
"So everyone's outside the city then?" asked Jason. "I haven't been in contact with anyone."
"I believe so, but she wants me to meet her as soon as possible. We should get going."
"I wish we had a car," Jason sighed. "Teleporting is weird on the senses."
"You get used to it," Kuroko said shrugging. "It's easier for me because I'm doing the exact calculations. Speaking of which, how do you keep blocking my teleportation with your shadow?"
"A simplified version is my shadow is a combination of spatial manipulation and bending dimensions," Jason explained. "The displacement lets me move my shadow, while the bending dimensions make it solid. When I bend the dimensions, it interferes with your eleventh dimensional calculations."
"So don't you have to calculate every location?" Kuroko asked thinking.
"Yea," Jason nodded. "It limits how my area my shadow can cover, but I found ways to do it rather efficiently." He realized something and grinned. "You know this is the first time we have talked this much in a long time Kuro-chan."
"Will you stop calling me that?" Kuroko asked irritated. "It's so annoying. If you can't call me respectfully, at least you can call me by my real name." She had given up on trying to get him to refer to her by her last name.
"Okay," Jason said then grinned again. "But only if you call me Jason."
"Like hell I will."
"Kuro-chan it is then," Jason shrugged.
"Fine," Kuroko said irritated again.
"Kuroko it is then," Jason said. Kuroko was going to open her mouth and respond, but closed it. Jason calling her by her actual name, instead of the nickname he created, didn't annoy her much. In fact, she didn't even care if he called her by her first name. Then they heard an unmistakably male voice.
"Am I interrupting your lover's quarrel?" The both turned around immediately and stared at the male. Neither had heard or felt him approach. The man had blonde hair, wore a top of the line suit, and emitted an aura of nobility. They both stared at him in silence, taking in his appearance and demeanor. "Forgive my rudeness. I am Knight Leader, and I heard you took care of several men under my command. I am here to take you captive leader of The Fallen." Both Jason and Kuroko finally found their words.
"We aren't lovers!" Kuroko forcefully stated.
"How many times do I have to tell you?" Jason said exasperatedly. "I am not a Fallen leader."
"Either way," Knight Leader said. "You both are coming with me. If you resist, your life may be forfeit." Jason could feel the change in Knight Leader, Kuroko could not, and Jason panicked slightly at the sheer amount of Telesma that just radiated from Knight Leader.
"Run Kuroko!' Jason shouted.
"Huh?" Kuroko said turning to him. Everything happened in a blink of an eye. Jason pushed Kuroko out of the way with a shadow hand, right when Knight Leader disappeared. Kuroko thought for a moment he could teleport, but realized it was pure speed. Knight Leader appeared between them and he punched Jason, sending him flying into a tree. Due to Jason's shadow, Kuroko was just out of his reach. She teleported away and stood there wide-eyed.
"You two are no match for me," Knight Leader said simply. His tone was not overconfident; he was just stating a fact.
"I'm not out yet," Jason said getting to his feet. Kuroko teleported next to him and turned to face Knight Leader.
"That blow should have knocked you out immediately," Knight Leader commented. "It appears you possess high speed regenerative abilities. No wonder my knights had difficulty with you. It is easily remedied." Jason's shadow erupted from under his clothes and surrounded him, while Kuroko pulled out her needles. Both were staring at the person in front of them.
Neither of them were feeling confident in their chance of victory.
Feel free to leave a review, comment, suggestions, or ideas, I love reading them. If you have a question you wish I ask and would like a quick answer, feel free to message me directly. I try to respond to those within a day or two. Comments, I tend to respond to in the next chapter.
Accelerator: Where the f%^& was my fight? Everyone wanted to see that.
Shizuri: You got plenty of time last chapter, now I get some. Go cry in a corner or something.
Accelerator: You want to die?
Jason: So anyone notice Carissa's reaction to Touma?
Motoharu: Looks like he is going to get his own country soon.
Touma: No I'm not. She's going to lock me away while she takes over.
Motoharu: So she's possessive?
Touma: That's not what I meant!
Jason: Well if he wants to rule a country, he needs a decent side force of military trained individuals swearing loyalty to him.
Accelerator: He's got almost ten thousand of those.
Jason: Oh, well, then he needs some strong body guards who would never betray them.
Motoharu: There are the level five girls.
Jason: Hmm, if he marries Carissa and expands the royal family. Ok… sounds possible.
Touma: YOU ARE ALL IDIOTS! THERE IS NO WAY THAT COULD HAPPEN!
Carissa: I'll keep this in mind.
Touma:…